Kodak has had the opportunity to work with Hollywood celebrities like Brendan Fraser and the cast of last season's Celebrity Apprentice, television personalities like Paige Davis of Trading Spaces and sports stars like Ryan Newman. But did you know we have our own celebrity right here at Kodak? His name is Steve Sasson and if you own a digital camera, you have him to thank! Steve is the inventor of the world's first digital camera which he developed in 1975 at the age of 25.



Steve Sasson holding camera

The digital camera was patented in 1978 but received widespread interest in 2001 when Steve received the Eastman Innovation Award from Kodak and a local newspaper wrote about the camera. Since then, Steve and Kodak have received a lot of attention for the invention which changed the way people around the world take pictures.

This Saturday, Steve will accept the German Photographic Society's highest honor, the Cultural Award. The ceremony takes place in Cologne during Photokina, the world's leading photo and imaging trade fair where Kodak is introducing its latest products.

The German Photographic Society, with over 1,000 members, has represented the cultural interests of photography in Germany since 1951. Steve is the fourth Kodak researcher to be honored with the Cultural Award. Previous Kodak recipients were Dr. Leopold Godowsky in 1973 (for co-inventing Kodachrome color film), Dr. Wesley T. Hanson in 1977 (for inventing a process that greatly improved the quality of the color in photographic prints) and Dr. Paul B. Gilman in 1989 (for his achievements relating to the
sensitization of silver halide emulsions).

Steve wrote a great post last year about his invention. Before he left for Germany, I asked him for his thoughts 30 years after the camera was patented, plus some questions just for fun. Today is Part 1 and tomorrow we'll have Part 2. Also check out our Kodak Close Up podcast with Steve for more!

1. How does it feel to be the inventor of the digital camera?

Pretty strange, I guess. To have something you did over 30 years ago be of interest to people is a little bizarre. Fortunately I remember a great deal about that project, not because I thought it would ever interest others so much, but because it was such fun to do. I was working with great people and learning a great deal about my passion for electronics. It also set the direction for my career because as a result of this experience, I became focused on digital imaging and have remained so throughout my time at Kodak.

2. How did the project come about?

It was a very small effort that started out as a general investigation of the imaging properties of CCD imagers that were just becoming available for experimentation. I thought it would be very interesting if I could build a still imaging camera around this new imager. From there I went to an all-digital implementation idea with the dream of demonstrating a camera that had no moving mechanical parts. I had no idea in the beginning how difficult it was to make this work, and if I knew, I might not have attempted it! It was a very small project with almost no budget and very few people knew we were working on it. We even had to clean out an unused back laboratory for some space. The situation was just about perfect to try something crazy.

3. What was the toughest challenge you faced?

It's hard to think of any one thing, as almost everything we did was for the first time. All of the circuits were built only once and therefore had to be de-bugged in the cramped quarters of the final camera structure. It was a struggle to have these circuits all be accessible and yet the device small enough to be handheld. I also remember that although we worked on this for about a year, we saw no images until both the camera and playback system were functional. Our only feedback for a year on whether anything was working came from voltmeter measurements or oscilloscope traces. It was a continuous cycle of design, build, test and fix as we proceeded through the elements of the camera and playback system.

4. Did you ever think about giving up?

Yes, many times. I remember questioning my sanity for even thinking that I could ever get this to work. The CCD device was extremely temperamental, the timing of all the digital circuits had to be worked out by hand-drawn timing diagrams and the microprocessor used in the playback unit had to be programmed in assembler language. There were many days I wished I had taken a much smaller bite at this apple and perhaps just done a bench experiment measuring the parameters of a CCD in a test fixture. However, I had the support of two enormously talented technicians, Bob Deyager and Jim Schueckler. This project would not have been a success without them. I remember working day after day in the lab with Jim as we battled the demons in the prototype camera. I think we kept each other going. With a lot of luck and a great deal of help from many members of the laboratory we finally reached our goal of taking and displaying our first picture in December 1975. I remember being very happy and breathing a big sigh of relief that all of it worked.

5. Did you have any idea at the time that what you were doing would one day revolutionize the way people take pictures?

At the time I thought it represented a distinct possibility that in the future, people might have the option to take pictures this way. When presenting the camera I was prepared to answer questions on the details of how it worked but instead I was questioned about the future impact of this approach to photography. To be honest, I hadn't thought much beyond the fact that this approach didn't use film and didn't require prints. My imprudent choice of presentation titles, "filmless photography," represented the scope of my thinking in 1976. The extensions of this concept were touched on in a technical report written later that year where I had a chance to speculate a little on the camera of the future. Opportunities with transmitting images electronically, infrared photography, reusable memory cards to hold captured images and picture collections being held on mass optical or magnetic storage systems were all discussed in this document. You must remember, all of these options were very impractical at the time but one couldn't say they would never happen.

The playback device and TV

6. The image of the little boy and his dog we see in the pictures was not the first picture taken with the camera, was it?

No, that was a test image we used in the laboratory to evaluate the system and is the only remaining representative image produced by the prototype system. It was part of the technical report published in January 1977. The first image taken by the camera was of a lab technician who was working down the hall from our lab (it took 23 seconds to record the image to the cassette). She was kind enough to pose for our first full test and, after a few minor corrections, got to see herself on the TV monitor in our lab.

7. How much does the camera weigh?

The camera weighs about 8 ½ pounds and is approximately 8" wide, 6" deep and 9" high. It's about the size and weight of a toaster.

8. Does it still work?

No, I'm afraid most of the connections and parts used are long out of warranty!

9. What was your reaction when you learned you were selected for the Cultural Award?

Very surprised. To have a longstanding organization like the German Photographic Society recognize your efforts is very humbling. I look at this as recognition of all the men and women at Kodak who have contributed to the digital photography revolution over the last few decades.

10. Is inventing the digital camera your proudest professional achievement?

It certainly was a fun and educational experience. It's hard to isolate the best experience however, as I have worked on many Kodak products that have been produced over the last few decades. I guess I would say I am most proud of the relationships I have developed with the many friends and colleagues I have had the privilege of working with over my career. Being surrounded by these great people is a large part of why I come to work every day.

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